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Sensational Arsenal sweep Milan aside

They’ll be peddling the DVD of this in the Arsenal shop in about two days, mark my words.

That was bang up there with Madrid and Inter away – perhaps better. You could even argue there hasn’t been a finer away performance by Arsenal in the Champions League. We bossed the game, missed a hatful of presentable chances, then struck at the death in glorious fashion. I am lost for words. Absolutely sweet.

We passed beautifully, we hustled, we harried – and we largely bossed AC Milan. Yes, that’s AC Milan we’re talking about. The champions of Europe (now deceased). Never beaten by an English side at the San Siro. Seven times winners of the European Cup. That Milan.

Forgive me my exuberance, but we’ve had an average couple of weeks with one thing and another, and that was the performance we were desperately hoping for. The lads were fantastic.

We defended superbly (one dodgy header by Senderos aside), but it was in the midfield where we really shone. Fabregas was monumentally good – he was supreme. Like some of his teammates, he’s not exactly been firing on all cylinders in recent weeks, but tonight he exploded.

Hleb had an excellent game, finding space through the eye of a needle, while Flamini was hungry like a wolf, snapping all over the place. Up top Adebayor battled hard on his own. Diaby started brightly before fading, and Eboue – well he was just Eboue. Nothing he did came off, which is why he was replaced by Walcott who had a fine cameo that ended with the setting up of Adebayor’s goal.

Is this the end of this venerable Milan side? It’s certainly the end for Maldini, who tonight played his final European match. But basically, I don’t much care what happens to Milan. What I care about is Arsenal, and this result might just be the shot in the arm this young, exciting Arsenal side needs to kick on over the next three months. There’s so much to play for.